Page 13 - 2020 October 8 HK Fine Classical Paintings

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PROPERTY FROM THE HEI-CHI COLLECTION 東漢 玉獸首銜環壺
AN EXTREMELY RARE JADE VESSEL, HU
EASTERN HAN DYNASTY 出版：
姜濤及劉雲輝，《熙墀藏玉續》，北京，2012年，頁91
the rounded shoulder of the vessel flanked by a pair of handles,
each superbly rendered in low relief as an animal mask picked 玉質器皿，耗料費工，是以高古兩漢之時，即便皇室
out with swift incisions and suspending a mock ring, the
smoothly patinated stone of a pale brown colour with grey 貴族所用，玉盃等易於掏摚之器也絕非多見，何況如
mottles 此小口玉皿。此壺器形秀逸，不求繁複飾紋，著重彰
h. 12.7 cm, 5 in. 顯玉石秀樸之美，妙仿同代銅器，簡綴鋪首成對，甚
是罕稀。著錄雖未見有相類例子，但可參考其他玉雕
LITERATURE
獸首，如陝西興平漢武帝陵園出土之西漢四靈紋鋪
Jiang Tao and Liu Yunhui, Jades from Hei-Chi Collection II, 首，粗眉大目，見《中國出土玉器全集》，卷14：陝
Beijing, 2012, p. 91.
西，北京，2005年，圖版132。另可參考陝西漢昭帝平
HK$ 400,000-600,000 陵之高足玉盃，同樣光素無紋，經沁後色呈灰褐，同
US$ 52,000-77,500 上註，圖版155。
Jade vessels from the Han dynasty, made only for the use
of the nobility, are extremely rare, possibly because of the
inevitable waste of material involved in the production process.
The deceptive simplicity of the present vessel, probably
inspired by contemporaneous bronzes, conceals the technical
challenge presented to the carver, who had to empty the
interior through the relatively narrow mouth. No comparable
example appears to have been published. Compare an
elaborately carved Western Han dynasty animal mask handle,
excavated from the mausoleum of Emperor Wudi (156-88
BC), Xingping, Shaanxi, included in The Complete Collection
of Jades Unearthed in China, vol. 14: Shaanxi, Beijing, 2005,
pl. 132, together with an undecorated stem cup of a similar
greyish brown tone from the mausoleum of Emperor Zhaodi
(94-74 BC), pl. 155.

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